Bike gang kingpin in net, 5 stolen vehicles recovered

Mohammed Saddam at the office of city SP Karthik S. (first from right) after his arrest on Sunday. (Bhola Prasad)

Five stolen bikes were seized during a raid on a house at Bhuiyandih’s Hume Pipe bustee in Sitaramdera police station area in the small hours of Sunday.

A youth, identified as Mohammed Saddam, was arrested during the raid. Two of Saddam’s associates managed to escape.

Revealing about the breakthrough, city superintendent of police Karthik S. said that Saddam, a resident of Road No. 4 in Ranikudar, Bistupur, ran the bike-lifting racket in the city.

“Bistupur OC Jitendra Kumar had got a tip-off that Saddam, who headed the gang of bike-lifters, had kept several stolen two-wheelers at a house in the bustee. On reaching the house, police found several bikes parked in a row. The three youths present in the house were told to show ownership papers of the vehicles,” he added.

Karthik further said that when the trio could not show the documents, police swung into action.

“But, while they were arresting Saddam, his two associates managed to flee,” said the city SP.

Karthik revealed that Saddam was planning to procure forged ownership papers for all the vehicles and sell them to buyers from other states.

The senior officer added that the recovered vehicles had been stolen from neighbourhoods in Bistupur, Sakchi and Sonari.

“We are trying to find out if the gang had stolen more vehicles. Search is on for Saddam’s associates,” he said.

Tatanagar arrest

In another incident, a 28-year-old youth was caught red-handed while trying to steal a bike from Tatanagar station’s parking area falling under GRP thana on Sunday morning.

The accused has been identified as Dilip Sahu, a resident of Baba Kutir in Bagbera.

Officer-in-charge of GRP thana Ramendra Kumar Thakur said Suresh Kumar of Birsanagar had kept his bike in the parking area before leaving for Calcutta on Saturday.

“When Kumar returned on Sunday morning and went to the parking lot, he found a youth trying to break the lock to his bike. Kumar raised an alarm, leading railway policemen and parking staff to rush to the spot and nab the youth,” said Thakur, adding that the criminal had almost succeeded in unlocking the two-wheeler.